Lynbrook teenager rescued after falling into a hole on Queensboro Bridge
The teen experienced several injuries and hypothermia after being stuck in the hole for at least six hours, the Lynbrook Police Department says.
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A Lynbrook teenager who fell into a shaft on the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge on Monday was rescued by the FDNY and multiple police departments after being stuck there for several hours.
The NYPD says it responded to a call about a 16-year-old who fell into the shaft in one of the bridge's pillars at about 5:46 p.m. and began the search.
The teen was stuck there for at least six hours, according to Lynbrook police. They say he was suffering from multiple injuries and hypothermia.
The Lynbrook Police Department told News 12 it received an anonymous call at about 5:15 p.m. that a juvenile might be hurt or needed help.
The department had no location but it had the name of the juvenile.
Lynbrook police say they went to the teen's home and his mother said he was with friends.
About three hours later, the teen's mom contacted Lynbrook police after receiving a video from friends saying it was her son trapped on the bridge.
"He's very lucky to be alive," says Lynbrook Police Chief Brian Paladino. "He fell in basically, it was like a 5 x 5 steel box and he slipped off the ladder and it was about a 50-foot fall within that confined space, and then then he went through the hole and fell another 20 feet after that."
The Lynbrook Police Department says it located the teen who allegedly shot the video and Lynbrook officers accompanied him and his father to the correct pillar on the bridge, where FDNY firefighters and NYPD officers helped pull the injured teen out.
"The kids that were shooting the video, they I guess feared for being in trouble and they left him there," says Paladino.
Lynbrook police say the teens were participating in a social media trend called "urban exploring."
"It gives them a perspective of the city or whatever landscape they're on that they would not normally get," says Paladino.'
"If you go on social media, videos are edited, so the young people, the teenagers are not going to see the fear or the injury or the consequences," says licensed clinical social worker Carin Winter.
